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Toad!"—(great laughter)—"Good Toad, modest Toad, honest Toad!" (shrieks of merriment).
"Only just let me get at him!" muttered Toad, grinding his teeth.
"Hold hard a minute!" said the Badger, restraining him with difficulty. "Get ready, all of you!"
"—Let me sing you a little song," went on the voice, "which I have composed on the subject of Toad"—(prolonged applause).
Then the Chief Weasel—for it was he—began in a high, squeaky voice—
- "Toad he went a-pleasuring
- Gaily down the street—"
The Badger drew himself up, took a firm grip of his stick with both paws, glanced round at his comrades, and cried—
"The hour is come! Follow me!"
And flung the door open wide.
My!
What a squealing and a squeaking and a screeching filled the air!
Well might the terrified weasels dive under
